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Smalltember (Smallvember) begins with a return appearance by the Flop House's favorite (insomuch as a terrible asshole can be a favorite) Canadian energy drink magnate-turned-filmmaker, Frank D'angelo, and his latest cinematic leavings, The Joke Thief. Meanwhile, Stuart reveals his love for all things Stu, Dan gives a few minor script notes, and Elliott's Nicholas Cage has snakes on the brain. Show notes

Oscars

Matt Rogers joins us to help tidy up the Oscars. The 91-year-old institution has gotten a bit cluttered, so the Pop Rocket panel applies the KonMari Method to the Academy Awards. We’ll keep everything that sparks joy, and the rest will be dropped off at an Out of the Closet in a Hefty bag. Will the short film and animated short categories survive? What about song and dance numbers? Find out.

Let us know if you agree with the panel, or take issue by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below.

All Abouts

Guy remembers his friend and beloved comedian Brody Stevens, who died by suicide last week.

Margaret wants everyone to take a moment to appreciate actress and wordsmith Dame Emma Thompson for her recent letter to Skydance detailing why she will not work with John Lasseter.

Karen Tongson is NOT about the speculation that Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga are boffing. And for everyone going gaga over their duet, she reminds us of another live performance with off the charts chemistry, Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond at the 1980 Grammys singingYou Don't Bring Me Flowers

Did you know that you can now call and leave voicemails for the show? You can! If you want to comment on an episode, give us any feedback or just call to get advice from a panel member, the number is: (530) 237-4108

This week, we bring you another installment of the Inside Pop Quiz - but this time, Sean quizzes Amita on her Academy Award History knowledge and also gets a few predictions for the upcoming awards ceremony. Then, we discuss the increasing amount of apologies in Hollywood - from Aziz Ansari or Kevin Hart, it feels like every day a celebrity is apologizing, or *not* apologizing for suggestive behavior, comments, tweets or actions. The sheer number of mea culpas these days makes it hard to tell who is being genuine and who is trying to get ahead of bad PR. We dissect who seemingly is getting the apology right and who may be a little too late to say sorry.

Plus, Amita reviews Sean's big sell- the Oscar nominated Animated Short - Bao - and shares an album from the soul/funk band with an international vibe, Khruangbin.

Nnekay and James are a splashing around in the giggle pool reminiscing about Nnekay's wild weekend- first a guest spot on the live taping of Judge John Hodgeman at the legendary Castro Theater! Then a baby shower for what James' dubs The Bay Area's Baby! James managed to help plan the shower from across the country because that's what friends are for (Thanks Dionne). Next Up- We got a little incident of trolling going on James' facebook page, mostly surrounding Kamala Harris and her Presidential Bid... by you guessed it- Nnekay. The wonder twins break down what happened and how we got to that point. In the Korners- Nnekay talks about Black People in horror movies. Some good, some bad, some are Candyman. James then helps us all with some tips on how to survive and THRIVE this next Election Cycle of 2020. We also talk Martin Luther King Jr. and Spike Lee.

In this episode, we share our immediate reaction to the 2019 Academy Award Nominations- what films we think might win Best Picture, what documentaries were snubbed and Sean shares his secret adoration for one of the Supporting Actor Nominees!

Plus, Amita gives her rating and review of the Actors on Actors conversation between Mahershala Ali and John David Washington. Then, she sells a thought piece about Hollywood's Disability problem.

This week, actress Edi Patterson and comedian Wayne Federman will go head-to-head, answering such biting trivia as the difference between a cemetery and a graveyard, the politics of Beverly Hills and the finer points of childbirth. It’s a competition as funny as it is eclectic!

But first, Edi will explain how her time at the Impro theatre primarily leads to the creation of full-length, fully improvised plays (yeah with an intermission and everything). And Wayne will explain what it’s like teaching stand-up comedy… as an actual class at a University.

Edi’s areas of expertise include The Lost Boys, Midsouth Championship Wrestling from the 1980’s and Howard Stern’s Sirius XM radio show. Wayne’s area of expertise includes films that have won the Academy Award for Best Picture, drummers who sing while drumming and fast-food.

As always, listen to find out if your trivia knowledge surpasses those of our guests.

This episode marks the return of the "Professional Contrarian" Inkoo Kang to talk about the new dark, action comedy Game Night. Before they get into the discussion of the film, the crew takes time to dissect this year's Oscars. They point out some of the sweeter moments (Greta Gerwig and Laura Dern, James Ivory's shirt) but all agree there's still work to be done. In discussing Game Night they break down the dark comedy genre and reveal some of their favorites. April professes her love for Todd Solondz, Inkoo sees "competent" as high praise, Alonso gives a shout to Pedro Almodovar, and Ricky inadvertently creates a mash up movie - 'One Flew Over the Vampire's Nest.' PLUS, the gang finishes up by copying Game Night and playing a round of CELEBRITY.

It’s another fun-filled Pop Rocket. This week, special guest Chris Schleicher is all about the Best Documentary Short Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405; Margaret Wappler is all up in season three of Unreal; Karen Tongson wanted to be about Unreal, but Wappler stole her thunder so Karen tells us about the new show Good Girls, and Guy Branum is all about the Great White Way, fresh off his trip to New York with his niece.

Then the gang delve into Oscar talk, sharing tips on how to guess the most wins on the ballot, how they each watched the awards show and all the hot takes they have. There’s just the right balance of reverence and cattiness.

Inside Pop's annual Oscars wrap up is here! Listen to get our take on the fashion, the snubs, the rightful victories, the highlights and the awkward moments. We'll rate Jimmy Kimmel's performance as host and also discuss our favorite musical performances of the night.

Who was the presenter that left Sean speechless? Which acceptance speech made Amita stand-up and cheer? Listen to this special Oscars episode to find out!

First time Academy Award nominee Laurie Metcalf on her long career in theatre and television

You probably know Laurie Metcalf from her role as Roseanne's sister, Jackie, in the TV Sitcom Roseanne. Over the course of nine seasons, Laurie's portrayal of Jackie was warm and kind-hearted but a tad bit neurotic and always on edge. Laurie won two Emmys for that role on Roseanne. Before her career in television Laurie got her start in theater as a founding member of the legendary Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago. At the Steppenwolf she worked with the likes of John Malkovich, Terry Kinney and Gary Sinise.

This year, she's up for the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in Lady Bird. It's her first ever nomination for an Oscar. In Lady Bird she plays Marion McPherson, the mother of Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson. The McPhersons live in Sacramento and the whole movie is set in 2002. It's almost like a period piece from the Bush years. As "Lady Bird" approaches the end of her high school career their relationship is tested. The film examines their mother-daughter dynamic in a very realistic way -- it's messy, it's complicated, but there's also a lot of motherly love involved even if Marion doesn't exactly show it.

Jesse talks with Laurie about her long career and the parallels between her life and the mother she plays in Lady Bird. Plus, Laurie talks about what it was like to be reunited with the cast of Roseanne for the new television reboot after more than 20 years.

You can see Laurie Metcalf in upcoming redition of Edward Albee's Three Tall Women this spring on Broadway. And Lady Bird is still playing in select theaters.

Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez have written dozens of songs for movie and TV. Together the married couple have won award after award for their co-written songs. You've certainly heard the song they co-wrote called "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen. The song was huge success. The theatrical version of the song reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2014 and a Grammy in 2015 for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

Robert's also written music for The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q, Scrubs and more. He's actually one of only 12 people to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award. Kristen and Robert are up for another Oscar this year -- this time for the co-written song "Remember Me" from Disney's Coco.

They talk to Jesse about the process behind writing that song, how they managed to sneak in adult jokes in children's songs, and how they find time in their busy schedules to be good parents, too. Plus, Jesse asked them about the first song they co-wrote together called "The Wide, Wide World," which is a song from Bear in the Big Blue House a television show from the early 2000's that aired on Playhouse Disney.

You don't want to miss it, the song is sung by a gang of puppet animals including a bear, a green lemur, and two purple otters. They had to rewrite the song about five times because they couldn't quite get the otter jokes right!

It's been a long, strange, sometimes underwhelming trip to the Oscar Nominations but we're here to share our immediate reactions. We give you our thoughts on why certain movies are heading to the red carpet and others got snubbed and we also try to make sense of why the film Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri has become a frontrunner. We celebrate nominations for Get Out, The Big Sick, Logan, Mudbound and Lady Bird and share our gratitude to whomever was genius enough to book Tiffany Haddish to announce the nominations.

Plus Sean makes his case for why Black Panther should have received an Oscar nomination THIS year! He's not joking!

And we end the show with The Big Sell. Sean rates Amita's Big Sell from last time, Kelela's "Frontline," and then Big Sells Amita an article by Alissa Wilkinson (one of his favorite culture critics) on the backlash against Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri. Read it HERE